Dunlap junior's art will be on display in U.S. Capitol building

Maya Jain planned a specific direction for her piece, "Of Night and Life," to go in, but said the wonderful thing about art is that it goes in whatever direction it wants to.

Jain's colored pencil creation won first place Saturday at the 31st Annual Congressional Art Show and Competition, which was hosted by U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Peoria, and held at the Peoria Public Library.

ERIC ENGEL

Maya Jain planned a specific direction for her piece, "Of Night and Life," to go in, but said the wonderful thing about art is that it goes in whatever direction it wants to.

Jain's colored pencil creation won first place Saturday at the 31st Annual Congressional Art Show and Competition, which was hosted by U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Peoria, and held at the Peoria Public Library.

Jain, a Dunlap High School junior, was driving home from music practice one rainy evening when she was inspired by the reflection of the street lights off the wet pavement. She built her piece by studying the aspects of several photos of rainy street nights, and even a little literature, borrowing a line from "The Great Gatsby" for the title of her artwork.

The competition is sponsored by members of the U.S. House of Representatives each year and recognizes and showcases the artistic talents of high school students nationwide. Jain's piece will be displayed for one year in the U.S. Capitol building.

"It's an amazing honor and I'm immensely proud to be chosen out of all these great pieces here today," said Jain, who wanted to reflect the aesthetic and ethereal images she witnessed on that rainy street in her winning creation. "This competition is a great example of why fine arts are so important to schools, and life in general."

Schock, who also read to children Saturday morning at the library as part of Money Smart Week Illinois, said the library was the perfect space to display and recognize the talents of Peoria's artistic community.

"A lot of focus goes into the importance of high school athletics and well-rounded students, but I'd say that equally, if not more important, is arts education," said Schock, who added that art promotes the development of the students' minds. "One of the top five or ten criteria during the hiring process is creative and artistic abilities, because companies want people that think outside of the box."

Schock said that over 200 pieces of art, the most ever, were submitted and displayed in the library Saturday, and a panel of five judges individually chose ten pieces based off the elements of beauty, skill, uniqueness, meaning and intent. They eventually agreed on the overall top ten pieces of art, as well as the first annual winner in the 3-D art category.

Vanessa Coleman, a senior at Havana High School, had two of her pieces, a colored pencil drawing entitled, "In His Shoes", and an ink drawing she called "Recovery and Disorder", chosen in the top ten.

"If you have a burning passion and do it because you want to, then you'll do amazing," she said. "I wanted it to be different, because that's what makes art."